


Heavy Is The Heart

by royalsleepiness



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Anxiety, Brotherhood setting, Depression, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Relationships, Eventual Romance, M/M, Mild Sexual Content, Mutual Pining, Noctis is super upset, Pining, Prompto tries his best don’t blame him, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, there are just lots of misunderstandings here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2019-03-19
Packaged: 2019-04-27 22:50:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14435826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/royalsleepiness/pseuds/royalsleepiness
Summary: Can you get too close to your best friend? Noctis would definitely answer this with a yes. It’s just hard when both of you don’t know how to communicate properly.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So to some of you this work might seem familiar. I wasn’t really too happy with it so I decided to revamp it and now I’m finally back to writing this! I have fresh ideas and I’m currently working on Chapter 5, so I hope you forgive me for this and enjoy reading.   
> Updates for the first chapters will be faster as they’re already written.

Truly, if Ignis weren’t there to drive Noctis to school (and to drag his sorry ass out of bed almost every single day) he probably wouldn’t even manage to show up at all. Not to mention that he hardly ate anything other than cereal if his advisor didn’t make him anything, plus something for school, too. Noctis usually shared this with his best friend, Prompto, and if only because he couldn’t stand how he kept staring at the pastries. Who was he to deny him?

So up until now, Noctis had never come late –– Ignis had insisted that, as the Prince of Lucis, he simply couldn’t let that happen. He had standards to meet, a status to maintain… not that Noctis was particularly interested in his royal duties. Much to Ignis’ and his father’s demise, he preferred to hang out with Prompto after school, taking him to the arcade or simply staying in his apartment to play video games. He was his only friend out of the Citadel, and with him, he felt so perfectly normal, something that he’d always been craving. Noctis didn’t see himself to be fit for being the future king of Lucis (and he liked Prompto a lot more than reports), so he often decided to ditch his duties for his friend.

By now he was used to Prompto showing up a few minutes late to class, but that didn’t change the fact that he was always tempted to text him, asking if he really was going to show up. Noctis could act as aloof as he wanted, but deep down, he was glad that he didn’t feel so lonely with Prompto around anymore. People at school would willingly spend time with him, but no one could replace his best friend, especially because he was the only one who didn’t want to be his friend because he was the Prince of Lucis.

So when the door finally opened and a frantic Prompto stumbled inside to apologise, Noctis couldn’t keep himself from smiling slightly. It was a shame that he couldn’t mock him now that their teacher continued with the lesson, but he did glance over at his friend every now and then. He didn’t even know why he did it, it just… happened, before Noctis was aware that he stared at him. Sometimes, Prompto would glance towards him as well, causing him to pretend as though nothing like this ever happened.

Just a few casual glances at his best friend were alright, even though Noctis was usually embarrassing himself by staring, and then getting caught by Prompto who would simply smile like that again. Like a ray of sunshine, he thought, but Noctis was well practiced at shushing those kinds of thoughts, so it didn’t linger too long. But sometimes, he wrote those thoughts down. It had become a habit by now, and he left those very awkwardly written notes in Prompto’s locker for him to read. Noctis put the most effort in it when he knew his friend wasn’t feeling so well and by now, he didn’t even try to deny that he must have developed a crush on him that just didn’t want to vanish. But as long as Prompto didn’t know about it, it didn’t matter anyway.

The only thing that was really hard was not to mention something that Prompto only shared with Noctis, so he usually had to limit his little notes to very superficial things, even if he tried to show him he cared. A lot. Truly, he wished he could openly admit it, but that wasn’t so easy, especially because he was still trying to find a way to make it clear that the author of these notes was male, because really, he wasn’t sure if Prompto would even consider it if he knew that it was a guy, or much worse, Noctis. But that wasn’t important because he wasn’t going to let him know anyway.

But Prompto was happy about the notes he found every other day, so much that he even started to style his hair differently just because of something Noct wrote to him. There’d been one day when Prompto just didn’t have any time to style his hair and a few strands were just sticking up which Noctis could only describe as utterly adorable, so of course he had to tell his best friend! Just... not in person. Every time he tried to comment on Prompto’s appearance he would end up being shy about it, blushing in the most embarrassing way he could possibly imagine— no. He should just avoid embarrassing himself. If he kept expressing his stupid crush through little notes that made Prompto happy, Noctis should just be happy with himself.

When the bell finally frees them after an exhausting day of school (at least for Prompto), Noctis lifted his head to snap out of his semi-asleep phase to glance at his best friend who seemed ready to go.

“So, what are we doing today?” Obviously, Noctis already expected them to hang out, because when did they not?

But Prompto gave him a pained look, “You know I gotta study for finals, Noct.”

“We could study together?” Not like this would be the first time they would try this, but they usually just ended up distracting each other. However, that didn’t keep Prompto’s face from lighting up as though he had wished for his best friend to say that.

________________________________________________________________________

Studying together was never a good idea – especially according to Ignis – but it was a nice distraction for Noctis who had no intention to study whatsoever. Prompto, however, was working his ass off while his princely friend was playing King’s Knight. After all, it wasn't like his grades mattered a lot; Noctis was the crown prince and didn't have to apply to any jobs after his graduation, whereas his friend couldn't afford slacking off. At rare occasions he indeed felt a little guilty, but he just couldn't find the motivation for something that wasn't going to pay off in the long run.

But he'd been watching Prompto study for four hours now without taking a break that lasted much longer than the way to the bathroom and back, so Noctis decided to put down his phone.

“Hey, don't you think it's enough for now?” he asked, stretching his numb legs.

But Prompto just let out a sound that was both annoyed and desperate, not even lifting his head to look at his best friend. “Dude, if I'm not able to do this equation by next week, I'm screwed.”

“Well, yeah, but it's not like you'll be able to learn anything when you already lack concentration,” Noctis mumbled, the concern for his friend masked by his slightly annoyed tone. “Let's just eat something, watch some TV and go to bed.” By now, it was normal for Noctis to ask Prompto to stay at his place so he didn't expect his friend to even comment on that last part. In such a big apartment he couldn't help to feel lonely and Noctis often caught himself missing his best friend— which was weird enough, seeing as he didn't exactly need someone to hold his hand at night. But just knowing that someone he trusted was nearby was enough for him to be granted with a good-nights sleep.

The blond shot him a look of clear defeat after he closed his books, not even bothering to put them away. It was rather pointless to try and argue with Noctis who'd probably pester him until he'd eventually give up anyway, so he decided not to put up with it in the first place.

“I’ve got some takeout left,” Noctis exclaimed as he dragged himself off the couch and into the kitchen.

It didn't take long until he was done heating the pizza for them, placing the large plate on the couch table as he grabbed the remote to put a random series on. They wouldn't watch it anyway, rather using it as sheer background noise.

Without giving much thought to it, Noctis crawled back onto the couch, lying his head on Prompto’s chest. They were pretty much used to being a little too close (Gladio pointed it out on a regular basis after all), so even if Noct could feel his friend’s heart beating so fast it might jump out of his chest, he wouldn’t dare to think it was about him— he was just glad that Prompto couldn’t hear his heart beating.

“Hey, Noct,” Prompto spoke up after eating his first slice of pizza. “Do you think the person leaving notes for me will ask me out to prom?”  
Noctis had a hard time not choking on the pizza in his mouth as he heard that, turning his head to look at his best friend. “Maybe. Would you say yes?” he asked, to which Prompto quickly replied with a nod, “If I like them!”

All Noctis could do was huff and turn his head towards the TV again, dropping the rest of his slice back on the plate. ‘If I like them’. At this point, he was more than certain that Prompto didn’t like him like that. As a friend, yes, but nothing more. With how often Prompto gushed about girls he found cute there was no possibility that he’d ever like Noct. And even if he tried to get used to the feeling of having a one-sided crush, it still hurt.

“I bet they’d be really romantic! I mean, who leaves anonymous notes anymore?” And Prompto kept babbling about how cute he found the little notes, how happy it made him... Noctis wished he could actually take the credit for it.

“They’re probably just shy and think you’d reject them,” Noct replied with a shrug.

“Dude,” Prompto groaned, simply shaking his head at his friend. “Seriously, who’d be scared of being rejected by me?”

At that, Noctis could only frown, propping himself up a little to look at Prompto’s face. He knew his friend had some serious self consciousness issues, but Noctis couldn’t seem to understand why. Prompto was like... a ray of sunshine, A handsome face, a toned body, and even if blond hair was a unique thing in Lucis, it suited Prompto so well. Noctis didn’t like seeing how he’d sometimes would try to cover up his freckles because they made him look even more handsome than he already was, but he’d never dared to speak up about it. And just like now, he would often find himself staring at Prompto, wanting nothing more than to press his lips on every single freckle there was—

“Uh, Noct? You okay there, buddy?”

Prompto’s voice brought him back to reality, leaving Noctis blink rapidly as he was still staring at his friend who then simply laughed it off. “I get it, Noct.”

But somehow... it sounded off. Like there was something Prompto had wished to hear from Noctis but it never came. Noct felt guilty, even though he wasn’t quite sure what he’d been waiting for him to say.

“Anyway,” Prompto continued, returning to his happy chattering. “Are you planning on asking anyone out to prom? Bet all the girls are just waiting for you to ask them.”

It was almost embarrassing that Noctis hadn’t even thought about the upcoming prom. In fact, he wasn’t even sure if he shouldn’t just stay at home, but he couldn’t leave his best friend all by himself at an event like this, so he had to come no matter what.

“I... There’s no one I’d want to ask, really,” he mumbled, even if that was only partially true.

“Oh, come on! You could ask just about anyone in the entire kingdom. Everyone would say yes. But I get it, you don’t care,” Prompto mocked him in a playful way, then grinned at him, “So, if we both don’t have dates, we’ll just be each other’s dates.”

For a moment, Noctis couldn’t really believe what he heard, his eyebrows shooting up. Of course, Prompto must be joking around again. There was no way he’d really want that, even if they’d go there as... well, friend-dates. Therefore, he should just laugh it off.

So with a smile that was more fake than genuine, Noctis held his hand out to Prompto, mumbling, “Deal?” to which his friend enthusiastically replied with a nod, grabbing his hand. “Deal!”

For now, Noctis would just... go with it. If Prompto really didn’t find anyone (and Noctis really should feel awful for hoping that he wouldn’t) then he’d go with his best friend, but if he did... well, in that case, there was no reason for Noct to attend prom. Ignis would get mad at him if he ever found out, because according to him, it wasn’t acceptable that the Prince of Lucis didn’t show up to his very own prom night— but who besides Prompto actually cared? Sure, everyone would spend the evening staring at him shamelessly, but not because they were interested in him as a person. Prompto was the only one who ever tried to befriend him because he wanted to know who Noctis was, and not the Prince.

One might assume that he’d never have to feel lonely, but whenever Prompto wasn’t around, loneliness was the only thing Noctis felt. Most people believed that the life of a prince was all happy and joy and sure, he was definitely a spoiled kid, but no one seemed to believe that he had his own demons to fight. The thought about being the next king weighed heavy on his shoulder, and the high expectations everyone had of him were suffocating him on a daily basis. There was always the nagging feeling of anxiety at the back of his mind, quietly whispering that Noctis would never experience real love— how could he not believe that? The kind of attention he got from most people made him even more self-conscious than he already was, and the only defence mechanism that he knew was to act reserved and aloof. Prompto had seen right through it.

Also, Prompto didn’t seem all too happy about Noctis getting lost in his own thoughts all the time, poking him a bit impatiently. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Just tired,” he mumbled in response, which wasn’t even a lie to begin with. Noctis wasn’t even sure how he managed to get exhausted no matter what he did— even doing nothing made him feel tired and drained eventually. “Maybe we should just go to sleep. Not like we get to sleep in tomorrow.”

“If Ignis sees me here tomorrow morning, he’s gonna scold us again, isn’t he?” A groan emitted from Prompto who leaned back on the couch, obviously not liking the sound of that.

A weird lump formed inside Noctis throat as he shifted on Prompto’s chest, carefully peering up at his best friend from under his lashes. “Im not forcing you to stay. I just thought it’s late and you stay here all the time, so...” A helpless shrug followed as he decided to stare at the TV, just in case Prompto really didn’t want to stay. It was nothing special, but it would still feel somewhat like rejection to Noctis.

Thankfully though, Prompto just laughed it off and playfully hit Noct’s arm. “I’m just joking, Noct. Or did I just lose my right to sleep in your bed?”

Noctis turned his head away because he knew he’d be blushing again at the mere thought of sharing his bed with Prompto. It had become some kind of habit after his best friend found out about the terrible nightmares he had quite often, so he now refused to let Noct sleep alone whenever he stayed at his place. And even though he wouldn’t admit it, having Prompto by his side at night almost made him sleep better, at least if he ignored his beating heart and the urge to just roll over and snuggle into Prompto’s chest. Sometimes, his asleep self did it anyway, so when they woke up it was always a bit awkward since none of them really knew how to react to the sudden and unexpected closeness— but neither of them complained, so Noctis wasn’t going to complain about it.

“Would be cruel if I sent you to the couch,” Noctis eventually replied, the hint of a smile on his face when he finally got off Prompto’s chest and the couch.

Prompto showed him a large grin as he stood up, making his way into Noct’s room like it was his own. And Noct liked how weirdly domestic it felt, even if they weren’t a couple to begin with and— Noctis really had to stop thinking about them that way. Obviously, he had no idea how friendships worked; Prompto was the first friend he ever had. So how would h ever be able to figure it out if Prompto really liked him back? Noctis shook his head to himself, knowing well that these kind of thoughts would just end in a spiral, pulling him down further until all he could do was lying awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling.

However, the feeling just got stronger after lying in his bed, feeling the bed dip when Prompto joined him. His bed was big enough for them to have lots of room, definitely enough so they wouldn’t have to touch each other, but he could still feel Prompto moving closer. Even if Noct wasn’t facing his friend, his heart beat picked up immediately, and he could swear that his breathing got so loud that Prompto must hear it. What felt like hours passed until he could feel him wriggle even closer, awkwardly resting his forehead against Noctis back as he let out a shuddering breath.

“Noct?” Prompto asked sheepishly and so quiet that Noctis hardly heard him.

Taking a shaky breath, he only hummed since he feared that his voice would sound too nervous and far too high if he’d open his mouth now.

“I was serious, you know.”

“Serious about what?”

“Y’know... prom. I mean... it’s just because... It would be embarrassing to come without a date.” Opposite to the quipping tone Prompto spoke with just a few minutes ago, his voice was quiet and he almost sounded shy about the whole thing. If that didn’t make Noct’s heart jump out of his chest, what else would?

“Are you sure, Prom? You know I won’t ask anyone anyway... but that doesn’t mean you have to feel sorry for me.”

Again, there was a weird silence coming from Prompto. For a while, the atmosphere felt tense (and Noctis still had no clue what might have caused it) until Prompto just whispered a quiet, “Fine.”

Suddenly, Noctis felt an arm wrap around him and a body snuggle into his back— he might just die on the spot. Prompto actively moving this close to him, slinging an arm around him... that never happened before. It must be a dream. Yeah. A dream. Noctis was asleep already, and he was just having a pleasant dream.

Prompto didn’t say anything else, just lying next to Noct, his breath tickling the back of his neck. No, this was real. Maybe Prompto was just cold, or he wasn’t feeling so well. Whatever the reason was, it felt... right. Like this was exactly where he supposed to be. So why would he complain?

Even then, with his heart beating rapidly in his chest, it was almost impossible to fall asleep.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Ignis did scold them when he came into Noct’s apartment, finding the two boys deeply asleep and cuddled up in bed. Obviously, neither of them had remembered to set an alarm, so there was no time for more than cereal, and even then, Ignis constantly had to remind them to hurry. Noctis was almost glad about it, since now, he and Prompto didn’t even have the chance to talk about all the awkward things that happened between them last night. However, things were just going downhill on this very day.

School was just as always. While Prompto really tried to listen but losing focus eventually, going back to doodling on his papers, Noctis was semi-asleep on his desk. Today, there at least were things that he had to think about— and they were taking up his mind completely. Yesterday was... strange. If Prompto really had been certain about wanting to go to prom with Noct , then maybe...  
No. He shouldn’t forget that Prompto still planned on going with someone he asked, or with someone who asked him. Noctis was just the backup plan, nothing more. Unless—

What if he just asked Prompto himself? If he said no, Noct could still play it off as a joke, or because of the deal they made... but if he was already wondering what he’d do if Prompto rejected him, then maybe he shouldn’t ask him in the first place. And if they actually went together... would it be alright for Noctis to go out with another guy as a prince? Even though Lucis was a tolerant and accepting country nowadays, it was a little different with the royal family. Noctis needed a heir and had no siblings, so of course it would cause an uproar if he would’ve been seen going out with Prompto. But he was only eighteen, so did it really matter who he was going out with now...? And how public would his high school prom be anyway? He didn’t have to admit that he had a crush on him, only that he’d rather want them to go together than seeing Prompto go with someone else. That sounded like he was jealous, didn’t it? He shouldn’t mention it, in that case. After all, Noctis didn’t want to sound desperate. Or like he was in love with him.

But should he really ask him?

The bell interrupted his train of thoughts before he was able to make some kind of decision, so the school day was far too early for Noct’s liking— and that was coming from one of the most unmotivated students in whole Lucis. But how should he decide? And what was there to lose?

Well, his best friend, if Prompto would reject him and realise that Noctis was in love with him. This was the last thing that he wanted, so maybe this was just a really bad and stupid idea. Before he got the chance to give more thought to it, Prompto was waving his hand in front of his face impatiently to get his attention.

“Uh, Noct, buddy? You planning on spending the weekend here?”

Noctis gave a somewhat weak smile when he eventually put his stuff back into his bag, getting up and following Prompto outside to their lockers.

“Sorry, I must have dozed off a bit.”

He earned a laugh in response, playfully hitting Noct’s arm. “So, nothing’s changed, huh?”

Once they arrived at their lockers, Noctis made up his mind. Asking Prompto to go to prom  
with him might be the riskiest thing he’d ever planned on doing, and the thought of losing his best friend was devastating, but Noct knew that he couldn’t put on an act forever— better do it now. If Prompto really didn’t want to speak with him ever again, their graduation was near, so at least this wouldn’t turn more awkward. Not that Noctis hoped this would happen.

His hands were already sweaty when he closed the locker to turn to his friend. Maybe doing this at school wasn’t the smartest thing, but before Noctis could think about it more, he simply blurted out what must be the most stupid way to ask someone out. “So, uh... Prom?”

“Hm?” Prompto answered, and it took Noct a second to realise that all his friend heard was his nickname.

Noctis frowned, moving a hand up to awkwardly scratch the back of his neck. “No, I mean... Prom. If you want to—“

Before either of them had the chance to say anything else, a girl came up to them, shooting Noctis a nervous glance and tapping Prompto on the shoulder. He wasn’t surprised to see his friend showing his typical ray-of-sunshine smile, despite him always being a little nervous around girls.

Noctis eyed her a little more closely. A... pretty girl, even though he probably wouldn’t have glanced at her more than once. Black hair, blue eyes, a pretty face. But what could she possibly want from Prompto?

Nervously, the girl smiled at Prompto, pressing a small slip of paper into his palm, causing Noctis to frown even more. Obviously surprised, Prompto took the paper, smiling at her once more. “Read it,” she urged him, fiddling with the hem of her jacket as he unfolded the paper and started to read it, his eyebrows shooting up immediately. Oh, what Noct would give to read it right now...

But he didn’t have to wait very long to learn about the purpose of the paper.

Prompto blinked at the girl, obviously surprised. There was disbelief in his eyes, but there was a smile, too as he excitedly clenched his fist around the paper and turning towards the girl, “Are you serious? You really want to go to prom with me!? Of course I’ll go with you!”

The rest of their conversation was nothing but a blur. Nothing but Prompto excitedly speaking to the girl who just wouldn’t stop blushing, happily hearing his answer. It felt as though his mind had just shut down, his body stopped responding to any commands, and the only thing left was... emptiness. An odd pressure in his chest, as though someone put stones on his body, as though someone wrapped their cold fingers around his throat to suffocate him, making him dizzy and shaky. His heart was racing, but not like the night before, not at all... He knew that feeling.

Noct had to get out of here. His mind was racing, but how could he pay attention to that when it felt like his heart was bleeding, like his chest tighten with every breath he took? Not daring to take a second glance at Prompto and the girl, Noctis turned on his heels, more or less stumbling his way towards the nearest restroom. He didn’t hear his friend call out for him with surprise, didn’t see students stare at him, didn’t feel people who bumped into him. It was like a numbing pain had washed all over his body and mind, making him unfeeling to everything that surrounded him.

He hadn’t even realised that he had started to cry somewhere along the way, just staring at his face in the mirror. And he wished he could feel something right now, to confirm that the pain of seeing Prompto agreeing to a date hadn’t knocked him out and he was actually just lying on the floor right in front of the girl and his friend. Just something so he would know that the numbness would go away.

But why was he so surprised? Did he really think that Prompto would turn down an invitation from a cute girl? For Noctis? Who did he think he was? Aside from the fact that Noct was a guy to begin with, he probably wouldn’t even be his type. By the Six, someone like Prompto who was always trying his best, who always worked so hard couldn’t possibly fall for someone like Noctis. He might be a prince, but he was still nothing but a lazy, spoiled boy. If he could just get over himself, if he could just... get himself to actually get out of bed in the morning. If he could just show interest in anything, in his own life, then maybe Prompto would’ve considered him. Maybe.

In the end, Noctis just fucked it up. It was his fault. He never got anything done. All he was was... a big disappointment, wasn’t he?

A quiet sob emitted from him, and he didn’t even care anymore if anyone heard as he broke down on the floor. The chest pain went from numbing to sharp and stabbing, as if someone jabbed a knife right into his heart— maybe Noct had been wrong about wanting to feel something.

If this was what a heartbreak felt like, then he never wanted to feel anything ever again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noctis seems to be falling into a deep hole, and no one quite knows how to help him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm super happy that you're enjoying it so far. Really keeps me motivated :)

Noctis decision to sit in the restroom in school for at least half an hour backfired quite a lot. Once he decided to finally take a glance at his phone, he’d gotten countless texts from Prompto asking if he was okay, as well as a few calls. But as soon as he saw the one from Ignis, he knew he didn’t have any more time to wallow in his self-pity if he didn’t want the Crownsguard coming to search for him and making the whole situation worse. Quickly rubbing his eyes, Noct grabbed his bag to sprint out of the bathroom, hoping that his eyes didn’t look too swollen.

Running through the almost empty halls, Noctis could only hope that Prompto had just gone home and wasn’t searching for him now. Just thinking about having to answer his texts and coming up with an excuse that his best friend would actually believe made his heart take a hurtful leap in his chest.

Soon enough, he reached the parking lot where Ignis was pacing around, phone in his hand and furiously talking to someone, probably Gladio or Prompto.

“Iggy wait, no reason to get the Crownsguard involved—“ Noctis tried to make it sound like he was joking, but the defeated and sad undertone just wouldn’t fade away. There was a half-assed attempt to smile, but just the attempt would give him away. Ignis just knew him too well to fall for something like that.

The advisor eyed the prince with a scrutinising gaze, lips pressed together to a thin line. “No, it appears that His Highness has decided to show up now. Yes, I will. Goodbye.” Then he pushed his phone into his pocket with a sigh before glancing back at Noctis, simply shaking his head at him. “Where have you been, Noct? I’ve been waiting for half an hour, you didn’t answer my calls and Prompto doesn’t know where you were either. So? What is your excuse?”

Noctis averted his gaze, biting down on his lip before he gave a light shrug. He knew that Ignis was only scolding him because he was worried, but with Noct being sensitive now, it cut rather deep. Under different circumstances he’d just shrug it off, but right now, he just looked like a beaten puppy. “Sorry, Iggy. Can we just... not talk about it? Please?”

“You realise that this is even more reason for us to discuss this matter,” Ignis replied in his stern voice, though his gaze was already softening as soon as he noticed that Noctis hadn’t misbehaved for no reason. But it was Ignis’ duty to take care of the young prince, so he couldn’t let it slide.

“Really don’t wanna talk about it, Specs,” Noctis said with stubbornness in his voice and once he looked up again, the aloof and reserved expression was back in place. If he hadn’t mastered to look completely unmoved no matter the circumstances years ago, then maybe depression and anxiety wouldn’t have manifested in such an extent— Noctis just didn’t want people to know that he had issues like that. It was the only self-defence he knew.

In response, Ignis let out an exasperated sigh and Noctis knew that he’d bring the topic up sometime later anyway. Not that he’d be more willing to talk about the fact that he had just gotten his heart ripped out of his chest and handed to him. Not gonna happen.

So without another word, he just got into the car and in order to avoid any conversation that could lead to him bursting into tears once more, Noct turned his face towards the window and away from Ignis, pretending to be asleep.

This wasn’t the first and certainly not the last awkward car ride with Ignis so he might as well just be used to it by now. After all, Noctis was great at ignoring not only his own emotions and feelings, but those of everyone else just as much. It might just be the result of how lonely he used to be as a child with his father never being around that he was now pretending that nothing ever affected him— and even now with Prompto as his best friend, it didn’t change that he often felt lonely. It didn’t matter who he was with, really, and Noctis couldn’t help but feel bad about never feeling satisfied with what he had. Was he really that selfish?

“Noct?” Ignis’ voice pulled him from his self-loathing thoughts when they arrived, but Noctis didn’t dare to turn around to face the other man, just in case his facade would break. So instead of replying or giving any other sign that he’d heard him, he just opened the car door and got outside.

As expected, Ignis followed him up into his apartment. Since Noctis still couldn’t cook for himself (or rather, he refused to do so, and cleaning up after himself didn’t work either) they had eventually come to an arrangement. His father didn’t want him to walk back home from school so Ignis drove him to school and picked him up again, staying longer on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to cook for the prince (enough to get him through the next day too, so he wouldn’t live off cornflakes) and clean up after him. Therefore, Noctis had enough privacy, even though he sometimes called Ignis over if there was something he absolutely couldn’t take care of himself.

“I’ll be in my room, just call me when lunch’s ready,” Noctis muttered after carelessly slipping out of his shoes and leaving them in the hallway, but Ignis wasn’t going to let him go so easily. “I thought Prompto was going to come over for lunch?”

Even if he couldn’t see Noct’s face, he knew that he’d hit a nerve by how he immediately stopped dead in his tracks. “... No, or do you see him around?” Of course, the snapping made it even more obvious that Noctis’ mood definitely had to do with Prompto.

“Did you two fight?” It was the most unambiguous reason. Ignis couldn’t remember Noctis and Prompto ever having a serious fight, but by the way Noct behaved right now, he didn’t even need a yes to know that something happened between them.

“We didn’t fight,” Noctis almost hissed, balling his fists but still refusing to turn around. His eyes started to sting just by thinking about Prompto— he needed time for himself and sort this out. Alone. Without anyone’s help. “Sorry, I really need to... do some... stuff. For school. Just call me when lunch’s ready,” he repeated and with that, he disappeared in his room, making a very clear statement by locking the door.

As soon as he heard the clicking sound, Noctis leaned against the door for a while, taking a long, shuddering breath. It just wasn’t fair. Noct knew he could go up to any girl (and probably even a few guys) at school and ask them out, and the possibility that they’d say yes was higher than he was comfortable with. Of course, he knew that their interest wasn’t genuine, that they were interested in him as a prince and not him as an actual person (and it didn’t make him feel loved, not at all), but they would say yes nevertheless. Their reasoning might be questionable, but they were still willing to put up with him. But Noctis didn’t care about any of them.

The only one he genuinely cared about, the only one he ever developed romantic feelings for, the only one he really wanted to be with was Prompto. And Prompto obviously didn’t feel the same way about Noctis, otherwise he wouldn’t have agreed on going to prom with that girl, would he? No matter how bad he wanted his friend to have some kind of reason to say yes but be interested in Noct nevertheless, he knew it just didn’t make any sense.

He just had to deal with it. Get over his crush. But that was easier said than done, seeing as every single little thing here reminded him of Prompto and therefore, about the heartbreaking experience he really didn’t want to think about. At all.

So Noctis tried to do nothing at all. Throwing himself onto his bed without even bothering to take off his uniform, staring at the ceiling. He took his phone into his hands every now and then, but it didn’t really do anything. In the end, he’d just drift off again, moving closer to that dangerous headspace he often found himself in. His thoughts would only get darker and darker, until he was completely caught in a spiral that only went down— there was nothing that Noctis could do to stop it. Up until today, being with Prompto had always helped him to at least get better once he was at the bottom, but being with Prompto seemed to be something that would never be normal again.

Would he ever be able to look into his best friend’s eyes without having to think about how heartbroken he was? Maybe, one day, but now was not the time to think about the day he’d be over Prompto, because Noctis didn’t believe that would happen soon. He should try, that was for sure, but he’d been in love with his friend for so long now that it was impossible for him to believe that he’d ever be able to get over it.  
It had been stupid to think about dating in the first place, wasn’t it? Noct doubted he’d be allowed to be in a romantic relationship anyway, especially with another boy; he was expected to marry a princess and eventually have children, and neither was Prompto royalty, nor a woman. So what had he been thinking in the first place? Even if Prompto would feel the same for him, it wasn’t like Noct was going to be able to openly show their relationship to anyone— even Ignis and Gladio would probably try to talk him out of it because he wasn’t supposed to date who he wanted.

And what would his father say? Wasn’t Noctis enough of a disappointment already? If he’d come out as gay now, he might as well announce to whole Lucis that he just successfully killed his whole bloodline. All he wished for was someone to take the load off his shoulders, someone to just wrap their arms around him and hold him, to allow him to openly cry and let out all the suppressed feelings inside him.

He wished that Prompto would be that person and he knew that as his best friend, he’d do it for Noct. But wouldn’t that cause even more pain to him? Wouldn’t that make it all so much worse?

Again, Noctis could feel anxiety gripping at his throat, making his chest go tight until he couldn’t hold it in anymore, until he could only cover his face with his hands and sob, but no tears would come out. It was the weird, numbing pain again, like Noctis’ mind knew that everything was supposed to hurt right now, but it refused to expose him to this kind of pain. And while he was grateful for feeling nothing, he also just wanted to be able to cry— both felt awful.

At some point, though (and Noctis was just so grateful for it), he fell into a restless sleep. It wasn’t the kind of sleep one would wake up from and feel relaxed and awake, it was the kind of sleep that one would sleep when being awake was so unbearable that the body and mind just shut down. Waking up from this nap just felt awful, like he’d been run over by a truck, even though that just made him want to fall back asleep again.

Because Noctis still felt exhausted and tired, the kind of tiredness that wasn’t caused by the need of sleep, but the dire need of peace. And after a quick glance at the time on his phone he knew that something must have come up that made Ignis decide to not wake him up for lunch. Rubbing his eyes sleepily he sat up, still feeling a bit disoriented. His uniform looked awful, all wrinkly and messed up, so Noctis decided to change into sweatpants and a simple shirt before even daring to unlock the door.

But nothing, nothing in the whole world could have prepared him for what he saw once he stepped inside the living room.

Prompto was there. Prompto was sitting on the sofa with Ignis, his head shooting up as soon as he heard the door to Noctis’ bedroom door open. There was worry and concern in his eyes, and that was when Noct remembered that yeah, he really didn’t reply to any messages that he’d received from his best friend. And as much as he wanted to say that he deserved to be ignored and worried about him now, Noctis knew that it was entirely his fault. How was Prompto supposed to know that he hurt him?

Seeing what Noctis had caused Prompto to feel... no matter how hurt he was about the heartbreak, knowing that he felt bad because of him made him avert his eyes. He just couldn’t stand the fact that he hurt him, so there was no way Noct could look at him now.

“Noct!” Prompto exclaimed, though he strangely didn’t get up and ran over like Noctis almost expected it. His voice sounded a bit wary, too, so he knew that something wasn’t alright— what was alright in the first place? “You just ran off so I thought...” He didn’t get to finish his sentence when Ignis suddenly put his hand up to interrupt him, using the other to rub at his temple.

“I think the two of you should discuss this alone,” he said, voice sounding rather strained. It was clear that Ignis blamed Noct for Prompto’s distressed mood, seeing as the advisor shot his charge a stern glance before getting up. Noctis was tempted to say no, to pretend this never happened and just go back to his room. And why was Ignis picking sides? Not that he could argue with the fact that it was his and not Prompto’s fault... Admitting it wasn’t all that easy, though.  
Noctis kept his mouth shut through the whole process of Ignis leaving, which must be the smartest decision he had made today so far. Staring at his own feet, he could hear Prompto awkwardly shifting on the sofa while Ignis was collecting his belongings. But once the door fell shut, indicating that they were alone now, neither of them said anything. It was... awkward. Noct knew that this was probably his cue to start apologising for being an idiot and not saying anything when Prompto had been clearly worried about him. As much as Noctis wanted him to leave to give his broken heart some time to heal, he knew it just wasn’t fair— he should be glad that his best friend even came over after he had been acting like an idiot.

When Noctis didn’t say anything for far too long, he heard Prompto sigh, then shift again. “Noct, I’ve got no idea what happened today, but you’ve got me worried, buddy.” It was painfully obvious that his friend tried to cover his nervousness up with a joke, though he failed miserably. He was all nervous smiles and fidgety limbs, and there was no way Noctis could’ve missed it. If the situation wasn’t so messed up, he probably would have found it adorable.

“Yeah, I... remembered something important so I had to uh... leave and get it done...” What must be the worst excuse for magically disappearing obviously didn’t impress Prompto. He simply raised a brow, staring at Noctis without saying a word for a long time, longer than what Noct was comfortable with.

“Yeah, sure.” Even Noctis could hear the sarcasm in Prompto’s voice, and it made him feel even worse. Never before had he seen his best friend getting mad at him to a point where he was so openly sarcastic, but then again, Noctis had never been such a shitty person before. “So why didn’t you answer my texts? Ignis called me and—“

Noctis interrupted him with a quick shake of his head, still scowling. “Look, Prom, I’m sorry. I just forgot and I thought you were too busy to worry about me anyway, so I don’t get why were even having this conversation.” The words came out before Noctis had time to think about how this made him sound. Bitter, petty, and jealous. Prompto, however, just stared at him with a surprised expression while Noctis felt the heat rising to his cheeks that would make him look even more ridiculous.

“Oh... I get it. Noct, are you jealous?”

At that, all the colour drained from Noctis face and now it was him who couldn’t help but stare. Was he really that easy to figure out? Did Prompto notice that he had a huge crush on him? If it had been this obvious all the time, then maybe he’d known it all along. But if he knew, was this the end of their friendship? Noctis gulped, his throat feeling tight again and making it impossible to speak. He should say something to save the situation but at this point, it felt even if he would try to speak, no words would come out.

But then Prompto laughed, looking almost embarrassed as he scratched the back of his neck. “Dude, you’re my best friend, there’s no way I’d ever stop hanging out with you.”

This was some kind of relief, even if Noctis would rather have Prompto hang out with only him— but that was nothing he’d ever admit. Still, his best friend’s words didn’t really ease his anxiety, if only, it made it painfully obvious that they’d never be more than friends.

“Yeah, that’s... sorry, I just... y’know. I was worried, I guess. Didn’t want to disturb you guys.” Noctis doubted he could’ve said anything that was more unconvincing, really, and Prompto didn’t look like he believed him at all. And yet, he was always patient with Noct, no matter how difficult it was to talk to the prince. That alone was something that made Prompto irreplaceable.

"What's wrong?”

"Nothing," Noctis lied. Everything, his mind screamed. 

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine. Just... tired."

There was some kind of defeat on Prompto’s face, but that only meant he’d keep pestering Noctis about his strange behaviour later. Still, he knew him well enough to know that he couldn’t make him talk. Not yet, at least.

“Alright, fine,” Prompto said, but he sounded far more strained than before, as if Noctis had managed to piss him off for real this time. After all, Noctis hadn’t even moved to sit down next to him, as though he was trying to avoid contact at all cost. To some extent, that was the case. Maybe it would help him to deal with the heartbreak if he slowly distanced himself from Prompto, just a little bit... just a little less cuddling and touching, or hugging.

The magnitude of the situation only slowly dawned on Noctis. If Prompto would actually start dating this girl, they would hang out less, no matter what Prompto was saying now. He wasn’t stupid enough to believe that, and the two boys spend all their free time together, too. But not only that. Their closeness would slowly decrease, too. They would stop sharing beds and casually cuddling under blankets, but now that Noct thought about, maybe it was for the better. It certainly wouldn’t help his crush if he kept being so physically and emotionally close to his best friend, no matter how much it would hurt him. 

Noctis had to get over this.

While he was hopelessly lost in his thoughts, Prompto had apparently made a decision. He’d gotten up and grabbed his jacket by the time Noctis was back in reality, blinking at his friend with a confused look on his face. 

“I never push you to talk about what bothers you, but you don’t even want to talk to me normally or... sit with me, so I guess I should just leave you alone.” The worst part was that Prompto sounded hurt, really hurt by Noctis’ current behaviour. He opened his mouth to reply, but Prompto waved him off. “Just... leave it be. Maybe you just need some time, or... whatever.”

Prompto was obviously avoiding to look at his friend, but Noctis figured he just looked so miserable that he couldn’t stand it. “See you at school on Monday, Noct.” And with that, he just gave a lazy wave with his hand (no hug, and no eye contact either) before leaving Noctis alone with his thoughts again.

He wished he could say that this went better than expected, but it went worse, now that he thought about it. So bad that Noctis didn’t even glance at the food Ignis left him and simply went back to lay in his bed, trying to think the situation they were in over, but he could hardly focus. His head was throbbing every time Noctis tried to focus on anything, so he soon gave it up. By the Six, he wasn’t even sure if Prompto and him had a fight, and it was shocking to realise that Noctis was so upset, so apathetic, that he couldn’t bring himself to care.

He was back to feeling nothing, as if there was a hole in his chest that made him empty and hollow. And maybe it was better that way. It couldn’t possibly get worse than that, could it?

Oh, if only Noctis knew what was coming for him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> I’m always happy about feedback, may it be positive or negative.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Noctis is still not even remotely over his heartbreak, Prompto already made a plan to cheer him up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be the last slow chapter for now, so you can expect things to actually happen now. Thanks for being patient while I was building the plot :)

If Noctis believed it couldn’t get any worse, he was proven wrong as soon as he woke up the next day and felt even more awful than he did yesterday. Again, he didn’t feel rested at all, as if he’d been run over by a truck, his head aching.

This wasn’t the first time that Noct felt like this, but it had never been this bad before. Sometimes, when he felt particularly bad, the only thing he could do was go to sleep, though it never helped. He’d only spoken about it once with Ignis, but the solutions that his advisor had offered hadn’t been to Noctis’ liking; he didn’t want go out more to get some fresh air and he didn’t feel like stopping to sleep during the day. Therefore, he stopped asking for advice regarding his loss of interest in pretty much everything.

It wasn’t even a surprise anymore that it took Noctis more than an hour to find the motivation to get out of bed, though he didn’t see the need to change. He wasn’t willing to see another human being today, so what was the point in putting on trousers anyway?

And since it was already afternoon, Noctis decided to just debate whether to eat late breakfast or early dinner instead of making an effort to fix his mental state. Tiredly shuffling into the kitchen, Noct soon realised that eating might end up on his list of things he’d rather stop doing entirely. Right behind existing, for example.

The only thing worse for Noctis than getting absolutely no rest from his depression nap was realising he was hungry and that Ignis hadn’t left much food in the fridge (or at least, no cooked food). He knew it was his fault. If he had texted Prompto that he was alright and at home he wouldn’t have come over, meaning that Ignis would have had the time to cook instead of calming the poor boy down. So, Noctis had successfully fucked everyone over, especially himself. Nothing new, really.

Right now, Noct really regretted that he couldn’t do more cooking than putting Fruit Loops in a bowl and pouring milk inside. Ignis had offered teaching him more than once but Noctis had preferred to either take a nap or to play video games with Prompto.

Oh yeah, Prompto. He should really stop thinking about him and try to at least eat some toast. Cooking hurt less. Hopefully. Noctis had once managed to ruin a frying pan when he tried to prepare some chicken nuggets. Reading instructions wasn’t one of his strengths either, apparently.

He checked the cupboards and fridge (again), finding some ingredients that Ignis had probably planned on using yesterday. Noct wouldn’t touch them, even though he checked whether or not Ignis would have tried to sneak vegetables in his food— he didn’t find any, fortunately.

However, that didn’t actually help him pick something to eat. He could go for pasta, but that meant putting effort into it, especially if he didn’t want to eat it dry. Noct has eaten pasta without a sauce before, but he just couldn’t get himself to care enough to actually heat water up. So no pasta for him. Under normal circumstances, he’d just order takeout or call Ignis. But Noctis didn’t feel like seeing anyone, especially not any strangers. And if he’d call his advisor, he’d just ask about Prompto again— Noct didn’t need that today. Or... ever.

In the end, Noctis decided to go with the most unhealthy option, just eating some cereal. Not that it actually mattered. To him, to anyone.

Saturday went by without him even checking his phone. All Noctis did was lunging on his couch playing a game, not even going to bed in the evening and just spending the night on the couch because honestly, did it matter at this point? It was uncomfortable and gave him an aching back, but Noct couldn’t bring himself to care. Therefore, nothing really changed on Sunday either.

It was just... a dragging weekend. Noctis forced himself to reply to Ignis’ messages on Sunday evening, but other than that, he avoided contact with everyone. He hadn’t even spoken a word for two days and that certainly wasn’t healthy. And on Monday, Noct decided to just stay at home, because that was the only solution for avoiding more unnecessary pain he could come up with. Even though Ignis clearly wasn’t happy when he found his charge asleep in his bed, he didn’t question it when Noctis told him he felt sick. After all, he looked sick, so there was nothing to argue with.

And Ignis just didn’t want to believe that there was something wrong with Noct.

For Noctis, it seemed to be the perfect solution for all of his problems and worries. If he didn’t show up at school, if he avoided seeing Prompto and this girl that asked him out, maybe these problems would magically disappear. Deep down, he knew that he was just drowning in his own depression, deluding himself to make life more bearable, but he didn’t know what else to do. He didn’t want to talk to anyone about this. If they knew, they would just shake their heads at him and tell him to man up, to finally get his life under control, but they all didn’t know how hard this was.

By Wednesday, Noct had reached a point where even showering was too much of an effort for him, and on Thursday morning, Ignis had lost patience with him, too.

“Noctis, you promised me that you would stop pretending to be sick, didn’t you?” Ignis said, clearly annoyed when he found Noctis curled up in his bed with no intention of getting up whatsoever.

The prince only hummed lazily in response, not bothering to speak up.

“That’s enough. Clearly, there’s something wrong with you, but I cannot allow you to keep up with this truancy.” No matter how composed Ignis was (or how sleepy Noctis might be), he was capable of deducting the anger in his advisor’s voice after spending so many years together. It made him feel bad in some way, but that didn’t mean that it motivated Noctis enough to actually go to school today.

Instead, he pulled the blankets tighter around his body, avoiding any eye contact with Ignis that could make him feel guilty. “I said I’d try. Didn’t work.” There was a pause, and Noctis knew that Ignis was staring at him. “Give me one more day. I just... need one more day, Specs.”

He knew that Ignis couldn’t resist him when he sounded so miserable, and he would definitely use it to his advantage for the time being.

So Noctis spent the rest of his day scrolling through social media which turned out to be a big mistake. While on the one hand he was glad that Prompto didn’t post many pictures because seeing his profile would just make Noct sad again, it also made him feel concerned on the other hand. Prompto absolutely loved uploading pictures he’d taken on his social media profiles, and he did it quite regularly. Every time someone upset him, he wasn’t in the mood to upload anything, but Noctis didn’t dare to think it might be because he was ghosting his best friend. Maybe that one girl had cancelled their prom date— oh Noct felt awful for that little spark of delight in his heart when thinking about that, but he couldn’t help it. He knew this was nothing he should wish for, but if she dumped Prompto he could—

Oh, no, no. That little spark died as soon as Noctis scrolled down a bit further, finding one of those awfully cheesy text posts that she had tagged Prompto in. He couldn’t help but to make a disgusted noise, though he did feel pleased that his best friend had only liked the post, not commenting it. It was rare for Noctis to post anything but whenever he did, there was always a comment from Prompto.

Still, that didn’t erase the fact that she was being lovey-dovey with Prompto right in front of Noctis, and this little incident made him decide that no, he wouldn’t go to school tomorrow. Who knew how they’d act in real life?

Even though Ignis was clearly disappointed in Noctis breaking his promise, it was no surprise to anyone. Instead of scolding him, he simply said something along the lines of, “I won’t tolerate this behaviour any longer, Noct” before leaving him alone again. For now, Noctis didn’t care, and Ignis leaving only meant that he could go back to sleep for a while.

However, when Noctis had just dumped his dirty dishes in the sink with no intention of washing up whatsoever, someone was knocking on the door. It was... weird. Gladio rarely ever came here, at least not without telling him beforehand, and Ignis always let himself in. But it had to be someone who the guards downstairs knew well, so maybe his father? No, the King always announced it when he came to visit, which was rare enough. The only option left was...

“Noct, I know you’re in there. Just open the door!” That was Prompto’s cheery voice, undeniably. 

Noctis gulped. It was relieving to hear his best friend like this again, his bubbly and happy self, so Noct could at least be sure he wasn’t too mad at him. Yet, he didn’t feel ready to see him, knowing it would just be weird— or maybe he was just the one being weird.

He could always just not open the door. He could just ignore Prompto and pretend this never happened but by the Six, Noctis was dying to see him, no matter how much it might hurt him. But he hesitated nonetheless.

“Yeah but I... I look like shit,” Noctis called back, and he wasn’t even lying. He hadn’t showered in days and he was still in his boxers and an old shirt.

“Uh... Yeah, Ignis told me. You know I really don’t care, right?” Of course Prompto didn’t care about how Noctis looked like. If he did, he wouldn’t have accepted someone else’s invitation to prom, after all. So even if Noctis still didn’t feel so great about this, he approached the front door and opened it to let his best friend inside.

Prompto looked... great, and Noctis wasn’t only thinking this because he had a huge crush on him. A pair of tight jeans, a tank top and a light jacket; casual, but it was obvious that Prompto had put a lot of time and thought in choosing his outfit. He had obviously put more effort in styling his hair than usual, and Noct could swear that he had applied a little bit of makeup. Not that there was something wrong with it, but Prompto usually only did this whenever he planned on going out, so what was he doing in Noctis’ apartment, then?

Much to Noct’s surprise, Prompto just grinned at him as he pushed past him, not even mentioning their little argument from a few days ago. “Wow, Noct, you really aren’t looking so hot. Ignis didn’t exaggerate,” he commented, playfully hitting his friend’s shoulder.

So Ignis had told Prompto to come see him? He didn’t even come here on his own accord? Yeah, that really helped improving Noctis’ mood a lot.

“And where are you going...?” Noctis started hesitantly, gesturing at Prompto’s outfit (which looked great, even someone like Noct who had no clue about fashion could see that), but his friend only smiled mischievously.

“Oh... I’m not going anywhere, but we are.” Just when Noctis opened his mouth to protest without even knowing where Prompto was planning on taking him, he was quickly interrupted. “Nu-uh. Dude, you left me all by myself at school for an entire week, so I don’t think you have the right to argue right now.” Despite his chirping, Prompto sounded... upset. Not that he had a reason to miss Noctis at school now that he had other people to hang out with, right?

Prompto seemed to have no problem with going back to how they were, slinging an arm around Noctis’ shoulder as he dragged him towards his bedroom. “Let me pick your outfit, please?” And not only did Noctis apparently have ‘no right to argue’, he also knew that Prompto was simply better at these things, especially when Noct didn’t even know where they would be going. One thing was for sure: Prompto was the only one allowed to drag him out against his will anyway; it just wasn’t possible to say no to him.

Not that Prompto would wait for him to answer his question. Before Noctis could agree or say no, his friend had already opened his wardrobe, happily rummaging through it. For some reason, seeing him like this, going through his clothes just so he wouldn’t go out and look completely out of place compared to Prompto, made his heart beat faster. It was such a domestic thing to do that Noctis couldn’t help but allow this warm, fuzzy feeling to invade his body again, making him smile and just feel... strangely calm. For a moment, he could forget about his worries, he could just push all his apathy and lethargy aside and focus on something, or rather, someone who genuinely made him happy.

“Noct? You still with me?” Prompto’s voice brought him back to reality, meaning that again, Noct had been caught staring.

Frowning, Noctis nodded quickly, avoiding eye contact as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “Uh... yeah, sorry about that. Still tired.”

“You’re always tired,” Prompto replied, and if Noct wouldn’t be so distracted by trying to calm his heart beat down, he might have noticed how endearing his friend’s tone was. Without further ado, he pressed a bunch of clothes against Noct’s chest, the mischievous grin returning. “Hurry up in the shower and put these on, you smell.”

There was a hint of red appearing on Noct’s cheeks, clearly showing his embarrassment about his physical appearance. He knew he must look like shit; he hadn’t styled his hair at all, hadn’t showered for days and didn’t even bother putting on more than boxers and an old shirt. Now that he thought about it, he probably was the only guy who dared to appear this way in front of his crush— that wasn’t a good thing, though, he was sure about that.

“So, Prom... where are we going? I just don’t get what this is all about and if this is some kind of weird plan that Ignis came up with to get me outside the house, let’s just—“ Noctis started to complain again, but Prompto shushed him with a quick shake of his head.

“Ignis told me you might need some cheering up, so here I am. Even if you didn’t reply to any of my texts.” Yeah, Prompto was clearly a bit mad at him for ghosting him for an entire week, but Noctis couldn’t help but feel flattered that Prompto was here even if he’d been a really shitty friend. If he could change anything, he would, but Noctis didn’t feel like he had this kind of strength within him right now.

Letting out a defeated sigh, Noctis clutched the clothes in his hands, not even bothering to look what they were. “I— Sorry.” It seemed like Prompto was waiting for him to add anything, to explain himself, but Noctis went silent. He couldn’t explain himself, not now, and if things wouldn’t change, he would never dare to explain his mood. Maybe one day, after he managed to move on.

There was clear disappointment in Prompto’s eyes, but he didn’t bother commenting on it, knowing that it would only result in Noctis building a wall around himself again. “I get it, Noct. You really don’t want to talk about it. Just hurry up so we can go, okay?” He smiled, but Noctis could say for sure that something about that smile was off. But he was the last person who could tell Prompto to speak up, not when he himself refused to speak to anyone, so he only nodded silently before wandering off towards the bathroom.

Noctis closed the door behind himself, then taking a moment to stare at himself in the mirror, as if his reflection would eventually tell him what was the right thing to do. Instead, a sad and tired looking boy with dark circles around blue, dull eyes stared back at him, making his mood drop further. If that was what Prompto had seen for the past few minutes, then it was a real surprise why he even wanted to go out with him in the first place— a shower certainly couldn’t fix that.  
There was no time to think about that, knowing that Prompto was currently waiting outside, all dressed up while Noctis was still in the bathroom, still in his underwear, still smelly. With a sigh, he took off his boxers and shirt before he stepped into the shower and turned the water on.

Now that he was taking a shower instead of avoiding it, it actually felt good and relaxing. The warm water felt nice on his tense shoulders and for the first time during the last days, Noctis felt like he could calm down a bit and ease up. And maybe this should be a warning signal that what he was clearly lacking was a daily routine (not that this would make his depression disappear, but it would definitely be helpful), but Noctis wasn’t ready to think that far. His mind was far too occupied with wondering where Prompto would take him, whether or not he’d hate it and if he could show some enthusiasm. For the sake of his best friend, he’d make an attempt. After all, Prompto was the only one who could make his apathy fade away, even if it was just a little bit.

Truly, Noctis had no idea for how long he’d been just standing in the shower, letting the water run down his body. Prompto must be waiting for him and here he was, thinking long and hard over his life with absolutely no outcome whatsoever.

So he hurried it up with washing his hair and body, then drying himself off. The clothes Prompto picked were clothes Noctis hardly wore nowadays, and if only because he rarely left the house for anything else than going to school and back home. And why would he bother looking good for himself? 

A dark pair of jeans that Prompto knew Noct felt really comfortable in, as well as a grey shirt with a v-neck. It was almost weird wearing normal clothes, and he still looked awful, but at least he looked refreshed and like he actually put some effort into... well, something. Plus, it was nice to know just how well Prompto knew him, choosing clothes that he wouldn’t feel weird in but that still looked nice enough to go out with. A small smile appeared on Noct’s face when that thought crossed his mind— that was a start, wasn’t it?

He decided to style his hair again after drying it, trying not to think too hard over whether or not Prompto would care about how he’d look, putting effort in trying to look like he didn’t put effort in his hair at all. So, his usual hair style, as Noctis realised with a hint of disappointment. Really, he couldn’t remember the last time he took that long in the bathroom, and it was even worse that he did it all for Prompto.

No, no. Noctis couldn’t let this drag his improving mood down again. Prompto tried to take him out for something... fun, hopefully, so he shouldn’t ruin it before even leaving the house. A last glance in the mirror before he opened the bathroom door to go back into the living room, finding his best friend lazily playing with his phone, sprawled across his entire couch— nothing unusual, and it was relieving to see Prompto behaving so normally here, even though Noctis had been acting like an idiot these past few days.

He looked up, almost beaming when he saw Noctis all dressed up. Oh, right now Noct wished that Prompto could stop looking so endearing, it just wasn’t fair. 

“Seems like all you needed was a shower,” he joked as he scrambled off the couch, approaching Noctis with a grin on his face. Noct only smiled in a shy way, really hating that he was too flustered to reply properly to a compliment that wasn’t even an actual compliment.

“Yeah, I... guess,” he only mumbled, the smile remaining on his face nonetheless. Yes, this might turn into a good evening, if they would stay like this, acting like best friends again and not fighting and arguing about something Noctis wasn’t ready to talk about.

And there it was again, that mischievous smile on Prompto’s face as he slung his arm around Noctis’ shoulder to slowly start pulling him towards the door. Suddenly, he wasn’t too convinced about today being a great evening, because now he was pretty sure that his best friend would take him to a place he wouldn’t voluntarily go to.

“So, are you ready, Noct?” Oh, Noctis definitely didn’t like the tone of his voice.

“Um... I really don’t—“

But Prompto had already pushed him outside the door, not allowing him to finish. “That’s great, because I thought that we should finally go to that club I told you about weeks ago.” Noct groaned, ready to protest, but Prompto was faster again. “You can’t say no now that you’re outside,” he chirped, dragging Noctis down the hallway by his wrist.

By the Six, he really didn’t want to go, but who was he to say no to Prompto? In the long run, he wished he would’ve had the time to prepare himself for what would happen tonight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> I’m always happy about comments, positive as well as negative ones.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noctis and Prompto have a great night out- at first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, it took me forever to update this and I’m so sorry but uni really drains my energy :’) I’m finally motivated to write this so I hope that there’s still some interests left.
> 
> Also a small disclaimer here, I do not condone drinking when you’re depressed.   
> Both Prompto and Noctis are of age.

Was there anything that Noctis deemed worse than sitting at home moping while feeling like shit and rethinking every life choice he had ever made? Leaving the apartment definitely was worse to him. Bonus negativity points if it was nighttime, especially when he was taken to a bar, a club, or anything related to a party. There were tons of events that his father had made him attend because of his status, and not only did Noctis hate them, but he also felt like he’d messed it up completely— Regis wouldn’t tell him outright probably, so he didn’t trust his father’s judgement (but Ignis did look disappointed most of the time).

So why exactly was Prompto trying to take him to... whatever the place he was planning on taking him. Right, because Ignis asked him to. How could he possibly forget about that? After all, there wasn’t really a reason for Prompto to actually want someone gloomy like Noctis to stick around for a night out. In fact, he wasn’t sure why he didn’t have any other friends; what was the point in putting up with Noctis for years? Pity, maybe. That must be it.

And while Noctis was busy with his rather dark thoughts, Prompto was happily chatting about the place he was taking his best friend to, who didn’t even seem to realise how genuine his excitement was. If he would listen once, Noctis probably wouldn’t worry about Prompto secretly hating him, which wouldn’t cure his severe depression, but it would certainly help.

By the time they got there, the only thing Noctis knew was that he’d been so lost in thoughts that he probably wouldn’t find his way back to his apartment, ever. And judging by their former ‘adventures’, Prompto wasn’t much better at finding his way back, even worse when he was tipsy (Noctis had absolutely no hope in seeing his friend leaving this place in a sober place, and if his mood didn’t increase, neither would he).

Even while they stood outside Noctis found the music to be far too loud for his liking, while Prompto was absolutely buzzing with energy. Sometimes he really wondered how they got along while being so different from each other but for some reason, the thought brought a smile to Noctis’ face.

Insomnian clubs in this area were quite fancy, and even though it was clear that Prompto was absolutely thrilled to be part of this ‘high society’, Noctis knew fully well that he felt guilty for needing Noctis to pay for drinks. Not that he’d mind it. It was like an excuse to treat Prompto like his boyfriend— no, no. His thoughts were going way too far again, he shouldn’t allow himself to think about his best friend in that way, not when Prompto might possibly soon have a girlfriend. Noctis was already close to losing himself in his thoughts again when he felt fingers wrapping around his wrists, impatiently tugging him towards the entrance.

“I’ve been wanting to check this place out for ages,” Prompto said with a bright grin on his face as they stood in the queue, now letting go of Noctis’ wrist (much to his disappointment. But what did he expect? That Prompto would hold his hand?).

“Really?” Noctis had to admit that he had a hard time sounding cheerful, but Prompto paid no mind to it.

“Dude, do you even listen to me sometimes? I asked you to take me here weeks ago,” he whined, playfully nudging Noctis. Their eyes met; Prompto almost looking... sad again. “Noct, I know you’re not feeling great, but can you at least try? I’m trying to cheer you up but all you do is ignore me.”

“I know, I’m sorry, I... I’m just thinking about...” Noct started, but soon realised that he couldn’t even tell Prompto what he was thinking about. But blue, worried eyes stared back at him, clearly asking for nothing but an answer, an answer that Noctis wasn’t ready to give. “Just... stuff, Prompto. It’s not important.”

But Prompto looked away, simply sighing. “Sure, it’s not important. Not like I care about you or anything,” he muttered, and Noctis couldn’t tell if his friend was genuinely upset about the vague answer or not.

Admittedly, Noct was happy that the guy at the entrance interrupted their conversation, so he didn’t have to reply to Prompto’s sarcastic answer. In fact, he wasn’t even sure what would be appropriate to say in the first place, not realising what suddenly upset his friend so much.

It was no surprise that they got inside fairly quickly, without any commotion around Noctis’ person— his biggest nightmare had always been that he would be recognised when going out with Prompto but so far it had never happened. Up until today, he had been able to avoid much appearance in the media and he truly tried to keep it that way. Maybe it was just because the mopey boy he really was had nothing in common with the charming prince that had been seen a few times in the newspaper or TV. Noctis had no idea how to play his role, but everyone around him made it look like he did. The country had no clue who he really was.

The club was already too full for how early they got here (at least in Noctis’ opinion) and knowing that there were even more people to come just made him groan internally. But next to him, Prompto was radiating with energy, his feet already moving to the beat. It was so endearing that Noct almost forgot about his bad mood, his eyes locked on his best friend who couldn’t get enough of looking around in awe, breathing the stuffy air in like he needed it to be alive. 

And again, Prompto caught him staring. But instead of making an effort and shouting to get Noctis to understand whatever he wanted to say, Prompto just reached out for his hand – and this time, he actually laced their fingers together – and dragged Noctis over towards the bar to get some drinks for them.

Maybe it was a bad decision to drink. What was he even thinking, of course it was a bad idea to drink when he felt depressed, but it wasn’t like Noctis was listening to the very quiet voice of reason in his head. On top of that, Prompto had already ordered, impatiently urging Noct to pay.

“This is so cool!” Prompto almost shouted into his ear, causing Noct to lean back just a little. The music was loud, but he still would’ve heard him if Prompto simply raised his voice.

But he smiled nevertheless, leaning closer towards his friend. “At least someone is enjoying it.”

All he got in response was Prompto grinning and rolling his eyes at him before handing him his drink which was, much to Noctis demise, ridiculously sweet— so definitely what Prompto was into, and knowing this was all it took for him to pretend that he was enjoying the drink too.

Prompto really tried to continue their chat while they were still sipping his drinks, making an effort and trying to look cool while leaving again the counter (and Noctis wanted to hit himself for thinking that his behaviour was the pinnacle of being absolutely adorable), but at some point the prince simply smiled and nodded, completely giving up to actually listen to what his friend was saying. Just watching him excitedly telling him about... what? An arcade, maybe? It was enough. Prompto probably wouldn’t even remember this conversation tomorrow, judging by how fast he emptied his drink.

But Noctis wasn’t any better. While listening to junks of Prompto’s sentence he watched all the people who walked by, a few guys making rather sad looking attempts to flirt, and some people just happily dancing to the music and not caring how ridiculous they looked in someone else’s eyes. And Noctis wished that he could be just as careless as they were, and the drink was definitely making him think about his broken heart a little less, so... if this would help him to have at least one good night, then so be it. It wasn’t really hard to ignore the voice in the back of his mind that told him that this certainly wasn’t the right way to have a good time.

On top of that, they both were lightweights. With such a low alcohol tolerance Noctis only needed one drink to be a little too tipsy to keep himself from leaning unnecessarily close to Prompto, his free hand on his friend’s shoulder. “You want another one?”

Prompto let out a giggle that was just as unnecessary as Noctis’ hand on his arm as he turned towards the barman to order another round, now leaning on his friend instead of the counter. Not that he would complain.

And he’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t suddenly glad for how clingy and clumsy Prompto got as soon as he was a little tipsy, because Noctis had an excuse to put his arm around his waist and keeping him close (especially because he was tipsy enough not to question that they gradually moved closer to each other, cheek to cheek while giggling about something silly Prompto had said that Noctis only half understood due to the volume. If he had to sum it up... they were having a good time. Noctis had almost forgotten what feeling carefree and happy felt like.

For the first time in a while, he didn’t feel the everlasting apathy, or the dull pain in his chest that showed themselves whenever he was looking at Prompto. Clubbing definitely wasn’t his thing, he didn’t like being surrounded by so many people and he really despised this kind of music, but he was here with Prompto, his best friend, his crush for crying out loud, and he would never forgive himself for not enjoying every second that they had together.

After the third drink, Noctis was tipsy enough to accept Prompto’s invitation to do something he usually wouldn’t even think about— dance. His mind was just a bit cloudy and his body felt so warm from the alcohol, making him immune to his usual strong fear of being judged by everyone around him. All that mattered was Prompto now, and if Prompto wanted him to join and dance, Noct would do it. By the Six, he’d regret this decision tomorrow morning, but who could possibly say no when a pair of radiant blue eyes were urging him to dance?

Not that he’d start right away. No, Noctis was so entranced by Prompto’s smooth movements that he could only stare for a moment. He definitely wasn’t all that steady on his feet and he obviously didn’t move in the rhythm of the music, but he looked absolutely gorgeous with this bright smile on his face, arms so far in the air that his shirt moved up, making Noct very aware of the warm feeling in his stomach as soon as he laid eyes on the showing skin. It hit him like a hammer that his thoughts were definitely going too far now, that he had to back off, make Prompto go home; he shouldn’t—

But Prompto didn’t give him the chance to think much further. He had soon noticed that Noctis was staring instead of dancing, moving closer (too close for two ‘totally straight’ guys in a club) and slinging his arms around his friend’s neck. With his head tilted just a bit, one eyebrow raised and this drunk but oddly charming smile Noctis would almost believe that his friend was trying to seduce him. Their noses were almost touching and he could swear there wasn’t much air between their hips either— this was by far closer than he’d ever been to Prompto, and even though he truly liked this, he knew that he shouldn’t allow this too happen. Not when he was obviously reading the signs wrong. Prompto wasn’t into him at all, he was just tipsy. So why did Noctis want to lean in and kiss him so badly?

“Come on, you were having fun earlier, right?” Again, Prompto urged him to move with him, though he didn’t exactly back off. Noctis hesitated one last time, but the thought of this moment lasting even longer was far too tempting for him to resist. So he just grinned back at his friend, finally wrapping his arms around him in return— and Prompto was practically beaming.

Noctis had no idea how long they spent like this, moving to anything but the rhythm, stupidly grinning at each other. At some point, Prompto let go of him, but only to show off some of his ridiculous looking moves to Noct who was tipsy enough to actually think it looked good. He even found the confidence to join his best friend, even though he and Prompto always ended touching in one way or the other. Neither of them seemed like they wanted to complain, and for their tipsy selves there wasn’t anything wrong with it.

But what was a nice night out without some kind of interruption?

Even though Noctis eyes were mostly glued to Prompto anyway, he didn’t fail to notice that sometimes a few different pairs of eyes were definitely lingering on them. If he wasn’t tipsy right now he’d certainly feel anxious about people staring at them, wondering just how bad they thought about him. But tonight, he couldn’t bring himself to care; he had Prompto by his side dancing close to him and that was all his clouded mind was willing to focus on.

However, it did feel a little weird when he saw two other guys clearly walking into their direction until the broad back of another man blocked his view. They were too far away for him to hear what was being said, but judging by how fast the guys turned away, they must have been told off. That was... strange enough for him to squint and try to get a closer look at the broad guy when he turned around, but when Noct recognised him, he almost didn’t believe his eyes.

“Heeey, Gladiooo!” Prompto shouted next to his ear, putting one arm up and waving like an idiot while still leaning against Noctis.

The bodyguard didn’t look pleased about being spotted, and neither was Noct. Of course he was here, way to ruin the evening. It was merely a reminder that this was nothing but a setup by Ignis to ‘cheer him up’, that he didn’t even trust Noctis enough to go to a club with his friend on his own. Clearly, those efforts had just been ruined by Gladio’s appearance, but instead of expressing how upset he was, Noct just leaned against Prompto more. Suddenly, the closeness was some sort of stability that Noctis needed to not completely breakdown emotionally (and to be fair, he wasn’t steady on his feet either).

“Why are you here?” Noctis shouted against the music, not even realising how weird it must look that he had his arms tightly wrapped around Prompto, who had his head on Noct’s shoulder.

Gladio crossed his arms as he eyes the two, but he didn’t look surprised. In fact, there was an amused smirk on his face. “Just making sure no one comes inappropriately close to our Princess.” Again, he eyed Prompto latching onto Noctis, his smirk widening.

“Cause he’s so easy on the eyes?” That was certainly... an odd thing to say, especially because Prompto was moving his head as though he was making sure that Noct had heard him. Noctis, however, could only open and close his mouth with no words coming out, his cheeks heating up so fast that he felt like he might explode.

What did he say? That Noctis was easy on the eyes? Did Prompto just call him attractive? No, no, that must be the alcohol. There was no way he’d ever say something like this and mean it, so Noctis tried his absolute best not to get his hopes high. Again. How often did he read things Prompto said and did wrong, leading him to the false conclusion that he actually had a chance? But before he could drift off and get lost in negative thoughts once more, Gladio interrupted him.

“Yeah, but it seems like you’re looking out for him, don’t you?” There was something weird about the way Gladio spoke so amusedly, but neither Noctis nor Prompto seemed to be able to get what he meant. “Didn’t mean to interrupt whatever you two are doing. But get your drunk arses home before you embarrass yourselves more..”

What did Noctis always do when he had no idea how to handle a situation? Right, he pouted and lashed out. “You don’t have to baby me, we were doing fine until you showed up,” he snapped, brows furrowing. They had no idea how it felt to feel absolutely useless, like no one ever believed in him. Why else would they monitor him if not because they believed that Noct couldn’t even go out without messing up? And even worse... did Prompto know about this? Did he also thought of Noctis as the annoying, useless boy just like Ignis and Gladio?

But instead of snapping back at his Prince, Gladio only rolled his eyes. Fighting with Noctis was pointless, especially when he was so upset already. “Prompto and I were about to leave anyway.”

“Nooooct,” Prompto groaned, now leaning back far enough to look at his friend with an annoyed expression.

“Didn’t think I’d ever say that, but Noct’s right.” Gladio hesitated as he looked them over, sighing. “I get that you don’t like this, but it’s my job to protect you I gotta get you two back safe.”

Gladio escorting them? That was the least thing Noct wanted, and this time, he wasn’t going to let it happen. Maybe it was the alcohol that made him even more stubborn than usual. “Fine,” he sighed with annoyance showing in his voice. “Gotta use the bathroom first.” And with that, Noctis grabbed Prompto’s hand to tug him through the masses and towards the bathroom, seeing Gladio move towards the entrance. Perfect.

“Why do I have to come with you?” Prompto asked, obviously not liking the decision of leaving so early and groaning when he didn’t get an answer. However, it only took a second to confuse him once again, tugging at Noctis hand to get his attention. “Noct, that’s not the bathroom. Where are we going?”

In fact, Noctis had never intended to go to the bathroom in the first place. “Home,” he muttered, stopping briefly to turn his head to grin at his friend. “We’re just using the back entrance.”

Prompto’s blue eyes widened when he realised what Noctis was doing, before he started to giggle, giving the hand he was holding a mild squeeze. That was all Noct needed to know to continue walking, making sure that no one was paying attention to them sneaking out.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Quite honestly, Noctis had no idea how exactly they got home. The two of them were nothing but a giggling and stumbling mess, and Noct couldn’t even remember the fact that they’d met Gladio as soon as Prompto laced their fingers together and started to ramble about how badly he wanted to pet a chocobo chick right now.

Noctis was almost sad when they got inside his apartment, knowing that their night out was coming to an end. And really, they were both losing their energy rather quickly now, and soon enough, they were both curled up under Noctis’ bedsheets, not even bothering to get changed.

“Noct, we should do this more often,” Prompto muttered as he crawled closer, his head landing on Noctis’ chest.

“What, go out or get totally wasted?” Without even thinking about it too much, his arms were wrapping around his friend all by themselves.

“Why not both?” He grinned, lifting his head a bit to glance down at Noctis. The room was dark but the moonlight shining through the windows was enough for him to be able to see the outline of Prompto’s face and oh, how badly did he want to touch him right now. “But hey, maybe Gladio was right and you really need him to scare people off.”

It was obviously a joke, but Noctis couldn’t help but feel this flip in his stomach again. No matter how much he’d been drinking, he could definitely remember Prompto calling him attractive. “Yeah, because I’m... ‘easy on the eyes’, wasn’t it?” Noctis tried to make it sound like a joke, but he could feel himself getting nervous already.

“Dude, have you seen yourself?” Prompto groaned, and even though he was far from being sober, Noctis really wanted to believe that this statement was genuine. “You have no idea how attractive you are, I’m jealous.”

“I mean, you’re not bad bad either...” The words left his mouth before he had time to think about what it was that he was saying. Sure, it sounded like the most awkward way of complimenting someone, but he was complimenting Prompto. The guy he was having a major crush on.

But for some reason, Prompto didn’t look disgusted at all. On the contrary, he was grinning from ear to ear, leaning a bit closer as though he was trying to mock Noctis. “You think I’m attractive?”

If there was one way to make the situation worse, it was stuttering some awkward words but unfortunately, making things worse was one of Noct’s strengths. “Yes, I mean, no... kind of? You’re obviously... good-looking, but I don’t mean it in that kind of way, you know? I just... look, I—“

He didn’t get any further. Prompto had obviously heard enough to make a decision, and before Noctis knew what was happening, a hand cupped his cheek and a soft pair of lips kept any words from leaving his mouth.

Prompto was kissing him. Prompto... kissed him. Just like that. Without any warning. He’d just leaned in, locking lips with Noctis as though it was the most natural thing to do. Was this real? Was he dreaming? He must be, because there was no way that Prompto would actually want to kiss him like that. Or maybe it was just the alcohol that had gone to his head.

And even though this wasn’t how Noctis had thought his first kiss would happen, his heart was hammering in his chest and his stomach was doing flips, because by the Six, Prompto was kissing him. Right now, he couldn’t give a damn about how wrong this was, about how the worst thing that could possibly happen was to kiss one’s best friend and crush while being hopelessly drunk. Then again, he was far too euphoric to care about how he’d feel later on.

Ignoring the fact that Noctis hardly knew what he was doing, he shakily moved his arms back around Prompto, now finally returning the kiss carefully. It was just a cautious movement of lips at first, with Prompto gradually moving closer and closer, until his hand was tangled in Noct’s hair and his lips got more demanding.

And Noctis... well, he’d be lying if he said that he knew what he was doing. Much to his surprise, Prompto seemed to have no trouble with leading their kiss, barely giving Noct any time to breathe. And he didn’t care, not when he was completely indulged in kissing Prompto, forgetting his doubts and worries with every time their lips connected. If only, he felt more and more encouraged to touch Prompto, to let his hands run up and down his back, earning a rather satisfied sound.

With neither of them even thinking about stopping, it took no time for their kiss to become more heated, their hands exploring further, pushing shirts up and toughing bare skin. It was more than Noctis would have thought would ever happen between him and Prompto, and if it wasn’t for Prompto’s teeth nibbling on his lower lip causing him to groan, he’d be convinced that he was still dreaming. Pleasure was clouding his mind as he could feel how he lost himself completely in Prompto’s touches in kisses, feeling his blood pooling south and leaving him desperate for more, more, more...

Only when one of Prompto’s hands was wandering down further, brushing against the growing bulge in Noctis’ jeans did he finally come to his senses. As much as he wanted this, as much as he wanted Prompto to touch him more, as much as he wanted Prompto... he couldn’t do it. Not like this. They were both drunk and goofing around, and on top of that Prompto still had this prom date, and for Noctis this wasn’t... real. It would be nothing but forced, and was this really how he’d want his first time to be?

It hurt to pull back; Noctis had only ever wanted Prompto in his entire life and now that he could actually get what he desired, it felt wrong. The thought alone made Noct’s heart ache, but wouldn’t it hurt even less if he slept with his best friend now only to realise that this didn’t mean the same to Prompto than it did to Noctis.

“Prom, wait,” Noct mumbled between kisses, gently trying to get Prompto off him.

“What?” His friend answered breathlessly, even though he leaned in for another kiss before Noctis couldn’t even answer. And again, his heart ached when he turned his head away. If he let Prompto kiss him again, he didn’t know if he could keep resisting.

“We... we shouldn’t be doing this. You’re— no, we’re drunk. And it’s not like... I mean, I know you’re going to prom with this girl and you’re not serious about this, so... I... we shouldn’t.” If Noctis had already felt a heartache just by pushing Prompto away, the hurt look on his face now made him feel like crap. But why? Why did he look so upset now? Wasn’t it the truth?

“Right,” he muttered, slowly rolling off Noctis, avoiding eye contact at all cost. “Because I’m just gonna make out with anyone.”

“I mean, I know I’m not anyone, we’re best friends—“

The look that Prompto have him in response made Noctis shut up immediately. He didn’t only look upset but... mad. Like Noct had just said the must stupid thing ever. “Y’know, just... forget it, okay? You act so weird nowadays, I don’t know what’s wrong with you.”

So Gladio and Ignis weren’t the only ones who thought of Noct as nothing but a huge disappointment. How did he even manage to do these things? How did he manage to kiss his best friend, the guy he was madly in love with and then fuck it up? And if this meant the end of their friendship... it wouldn’t be the first time that a friendship ended over something like this, want it?

But Prompto wouldn’t be Prompto if he didn’t realise just how greatly a sentence like this affected Noctis mind, especially since the last few weeks. “Shit, Noct, I— I didn’t mean it like that,” he started, now shuffling a bit closer again. “You’re probably right about the... the kissing thing. Let’s... not.”

Of course the kiss had meant nothing, why did Noctis even get his hopes up? And why did he whine about it now even though it had been him who’d said that making out had been a mistake in the first place? Oh right. Because for some reason, Noctis had hoped that Prompto would suddenly change his mind and confess his feelings. And now he was hurting, so much that he could barely nod, mumbling a dull “Yeah, I know.” There was nothing else Noctis could possibly say.

“I know that something’s not right and that you don’t want to talk about it right now, but let me at least comfort you,” Prompto muttered, and the concern in his voice made Noctis feel incredibly guilty. He was careful with touching him now, but it was clear that he was trying to encourage Noctis to come closer, knowing exactly what he needed to do to console his friend.

“Prom, Im sorry, but everything’s so fucked up right now.” That was all that Noctis managed to say before he gave up, simply burying his face in Prompto’s chest.

But every time Noctis believed that things couldn’t possibly get any worse, there was always something coming up to prove him wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m always happy about feedback, may it be positive or negative :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> I’m always happy about feedback, may it be positive or negative.


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